Gran Premio bwin.com de Espana Jerez March 30, 2008 MotoGP 1. Dani Pedrosa (Hon RC212V), Michelin, 27 laps, 119.421k (74.2 miles), 45:35.121 2. Valentino Rossi (Yam YZR-M1), Bridgestone, -2.883 seconds 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yam YZR-M1), Michelin, -4.339 4. Nicky Hayden (Hon RC212V), Michelin, -10.142 5. Loris Capirossi (Suz GSV-R), Bridgestone, -27.524 6. James Toseland (Yam YZR-M1), Michelin, -27.808 7. John Hopkins (Kaw ZX-RR), Bridgestone, -28.296 8. Andrea Dovizioso (Hon RC212V), Michelin, -28.449 9. Shinya Nakano (Hon RC212V), Bridgestone, -32.569 10. Chris Vermeulen (Suz GSV-R), Bridgestone, -35.091 11. Casey Stoner (Duc GP08), Bridgestone, -42.223 12. Marco Melandri (Duc GP08), Bridgestone, -44.498 13. Anthony West (Kaw ZX-RR), Bridgestone, -45.807 14. Alex De Angelis (Hon RC212V), Bridgestone, -45.871 15. Toni Elias (Duc GP08), Bridgestone, -69.558 16. Sylvain Guintoli (Duc GP08), Bridgestone, -74.442 17. Colin Edwards (Yam YZR-M1), Michelin, -22 laps, DNF, Crash 18. Randy de Puniet (Hon RC212V), Michelin, -25 laps, DNF, Crash 250cc Grand Prix 1. Mika Kallio (KTM), Dunlop, 26 laps, 114.998k (71.459 miles), 45:27.908 2. Mattia Pasini (Aprilia), Dunlop, -4.277 seconds 3. Yuki Takahashi (Honda), Dunlop, -4.287 4. Hiroshi Aoyama (KTM), Dunlop, -4.976 5. Hector Barbera (Aprilia), Dunlop, -5.968 6. Alex Debon (Aprilia), Dunlop, -13.633 7. Julian Simon (KTM), Dunlop, -16.372 8. Roberto Locatelli (Gilera), Dunlop, -22.571 9. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), Dunlop, -28.606 10. Lukas Pesek (Aprilia), Dunlop, -32.726 125cc Grand Prix 1. Simon Corsi (Aprilia), 23 laps, 101.729k (63.214 miles), 41:46.100 2. Nicolas Terol (Aprilia), -3.206 seconds 3. Bradley Smith (Aprilia), -4.986 4. Stefan Bradl (Aprilia), -5.022 5. Pablo Nieto (KTM), -6.254 6. Stevie Bonsey (Aprilia), -20.563 7. Scott Redding (Aprilia), -22.517 8. Dominique Aegerter (Derbi), -23.002 9. Mike de Meglio (Derbi), -23.928 10. Sandro Cortese (Aprilia), -33.541 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Race #2 (All KTM) 1. Luis Salom, Spain, 15 laps, 66.345k (41.227 miles), 28:37.355 2. JD Beach, USA, -2.405 seconds 3. Deane Brown, Great Britain, -7.326 4. Sturla Fagerhaug, Norway, -7.772 5. Daijiro Hiura, Japan, -8.971 6. Nelson Major, France, -9.607 7. Daniel Ruiz, Spain, -10.143 8. Markus Reiterberger, Germany, -11.241 9. Jakub Kornfeil, Czech Republic, -11.572 10. Mathew Scholtz, South Africa, -11.609 More, from a press release issued by Red Bull: Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Race Two Jerez, Spain, March 30th. A perfect pair of victories for Luis Salom at the first event of the 2008 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup season at Jerez in Spain left the opposition struggling. Matching the podium from Saturday’s first race, the 16 year old Spaniard was joined by 16 year old American JD Beach and 14 year old Scot Deane Brown. His Royal Highness King Juan Carlos of Spain had taken the time to meet all the riders and mechanics before the start making it a very special event for the teenagers. At the other end of the event is was ex 125 and 250 World Champion Dani Pedrosa who presented the winners trophy to Salom. Though the winning margin for Sunday’s 15 lapper was not quite the same as Saturday Salom was never headed and only troubled at all when he made an unforced error with a lap and a half to go. He clipped the grass dramatically giving pursuer JD a hope that the race was not over. “I really cursed myself for that,” said Salom after receiving the winner’s trophy from Spanish Grand Prix MotoGP winner Pedrosa. “I just told myself to calm down and concentrate. Luckily I got away with it and of course I am thrilled with the two race wins. It has been a perfect weekend. I knew that I had a good chance here because testing had gone well and I like the track but it does not get any better than this. Obviously after the first race I was confident but with racing you never know. And that is the way I am thinking about the next race. Estoril is a very different track and I think it will be closer racing.” After tailing the Spaniard by almost 10 seconds in Saturday’s race JD Beach was not going to allow that to happen again and chased hard. With him from lap one was 13 year old Japanese Daijiro Hiura and the trio soon opened up an advantage over a superb 4th place battle. An 8 rider contest was headed by Czech 14 year old Jakub Kornfeil and 15 year old Spaniard Daniel Ruiz. Eventually Kornfeil and Ruiz, contesting only their second Rookie race, were overcome by the more experienced Brown and Fagerhaug who were making up for mediocre starts. It was a superb race long battle for 4th that became a contest for 3rd when Hiura slowed dramatically with a lap to go after losing the end of his gear-change lever. Hiura struggled over the line 5th behind Fagerhaug but ahead of 15 year old Frenchman Nelson Major. Frustration for Hiura but all smiles for Beach who received the second place trophy from Spanish GP 250 winner, Red Bull KTM rider Mika Kallio. “That was a lot of fun,” said Beach. “The bike was good and I really tried to stay with Salom. I didn’t make such a good job of it yesterday and I really went into this race determined to do better. I thought I could do it but I just made a few small mistakes and he got away from me. “Then I just concentrated on putting together consistent laps all the way to the finish,” said Beach who then got a real boost when Salom ran off the kerb and into the grass. “I came round the corner and there was this big cloud of dust and I realised what had happened. I tried to push then and see if I could get him but then I made a small mistake and realised it wasn’t going to happen. I knew that 3rd place was quite a way back and settled for 2nd.” “I’ve just got to sort those starts out,” said third man Brown. “I just made a mess of it again and gave myself a lot of work to do. I worked with Sturla to get through the guys. We were tapping each other on the leg and telling each other to work together. No use in fighting each other because we knew that together we could get past the other guys. Then we had a big piece of luck on the last lap as Daijiro had bike problems and suddenly he came back to us and I got third again. Not a bad weekend.” Fagerhaug also cursed himself. “I’ve got to make better starts. Even more than that I lost a few places early on so I had a lot of hard work to catch up. It was working out OK with Deane, we got past a lot of guys and I had a plan to pass him at the last corner. It didn’t work though because I lost a bit of ground to him through the fast corners and just wasn’t close enough to make it all up on the brakes into the last corner. “It’s not too bad,” concluded the Norwegian. “Some good points from the first two races and the next race is Estoril and I’m looking forward to that very much.” Fagerhaug was fastest in the final of the pre season tests there a week ago. The third of the 10 race season is at Estoril in Portugal on April 12th. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Sports and targeted at the UK audience: TOSELAND’S BRILLIANT SIXTH DOWN TO A BOWL OF PORRIDGE James Toseland dedicated his brilliant sixth place in the bwin.com Grand Prix of Spain due to a bowl of his Mum’s porridge and the work of the Clinica Mobile at the Jerez circuit. The tough Yorkshire man was suffering from an energy sapping chest infection but fought his way to sixth place on a last bend showdown with three other riders that had the 134,000 crowd on their feet. “I’ve been really rough all weekend but my Mum prepared me a bowl of porridge this morning that gave me extra strength while the Clinica Mobile have really looked after me,” explained the 27 year old Yorkshire man who now holds sixth place in his debut MotoGP season after finishing sixth at the opening two rounds. “It was a really tough race but somehow I found the energy for that last bend battle with Loris Capirossi, John Hopkins and Andrea Dovizioso.” It was rough and tough stuff with veteran former World Champion Capirossi grabbing fifth place on the race to the line. The 27 lap race was won by Spaniard Dani Pedrosa who had quite a day riding the Repsol Honda. The 22 year old secured his first MotoGP win at Jerez, took over the lead in the World Championship and received the winner’s trophy from the King Juan Carlos. He was in a class of his own and was a comfortable winner over the Fiat Yamaha pair of seven times Jerez winner Valentino Rossi and pole setter Jorge Lorenzo with former World Champion Nicky Hayden in fourth place. It was a disastrous day for World Champion Casey Stoner. The Australian twice ran the Marlboro Ducati off the track at the end of the back straight and finally limped home in 11th and slipped to fourth place in the Championship, 11 points down on Pedrosa. SMITH TAKES PODIUM FINISH Seventeen year old Bradley Smith scored his first 125 cc Championship points of the season with a brilliant third place in the 23 lap race round the 2.748 mile Jerez circuit. Fifteen year old Scott Redding continued his sensational form with a seventh place in just his second grand prix but Kent-based Danny Webb crashed out of the race when well placed. Smith started from pole riding the Polaris World Aprilia and led in the early stages but was having problems and was soon passed by the race winner Italian Simone Corsi and second placed Spanish teenager Nicolas Terol. Smith fought back and held off the considerable challenge of the in-form German teenager Stefan Bradl for a podium finish. “That was a great result for me and the team because despite starting in pole we’d had our problems during practice,” said Smith after securing his second podium finish. “Once the tyres started going off I had to concentrate to hold onto third place and keep in front of Stefan. After the disappointment in Qatar it’s great to start scoring points and I’m really looking forward to the next round in Portugal.” Redding fought a tremendous battle with Swiss teenager Dominique Aegerter and his team-mate Frenchman Mike Di Meglio to grab seventh place riding the Blusens Aprilia. Ulsterman Eugene Laverty’s run of bad luck continued in the 250cc class when he retired from the race won by Mika Kallio with a seized engine. Race Classification 1 Dani Pedrosa Honda 45.35.121 2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 45.38.004 3 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 45.39.460 4 Nicky Hayden Honda 45.45.263 5 Loris Capirossi Suzuki 46.02.645 6 James Toseland Yamaha 46.02.929 7 John Hopkins Kawasaki 46.03.417 8 Andrea Dovizioso Honda 46.03.570 9 Shinya Nakano Honda 46.07.690 10 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 46.10.212 Championship Positions 1 Dani Pedrosa 41 points 2 Jorge Lorenzo 36 3 Valentino Rossi 31 4 Casey Stoner 30 5 Andrea Dovizioso 21 6 James Toseland 20 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Sports: Pedrosa takes bragging rights with runaway home win Gran Premio bwin.com de España – Sunday 30th March motogp Dani Pedrosa sent Spanish fans home on a high at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España, taking a runaway home victory and, as a consequence, the leadership of the MotoGP World Championship. The Repsol Honda rider was starting from second on the grid, and after snatching the holeshot from poleman Jorge Lorenzo he never looked back. Fast laps from the off confirmed Pedrosa´s intentions of breaking away, and he built upon his lead to win by nearly three seconds. The win was the 22 year-old´s second victory on home soil, after last year´s race at Valencia, and makes him the first local race-winner in Jerez since Sete Gibernau in 2004. It also echoes the only blue riband category win of his mentor, Alberto Puig. Achieving his first podium of the season, Fiat Yamaha´s Valentino Rossi reached the milestone of 100 rostrum finishes with second place behind Pedrosa. The Italian had a late mix-up at the start of the final lap, when he thought that the race was over on the home straight. Slowing down and gesticulating to his pit crew, Rossi then realised that he still had one more lap remaining, although luckily for the five-time MotoGP World Champion he did not lose positions as a result of his error. Team-mate Lorenzo was unable to benefit from Rossi´s mistake, but had a creditable battle for second place with the Italian. Lorenzo now has two podiums in as many races in his rookie season, and lies in second place in the overall standings. On the way up to the podium, King Juan Carlos I attempted to end the frisson between Lorenzo and Pedrosa, the two rivals for the affections of the Spanish fans, by making them shake hands. However it is clear after today’s result that there are sure to be plenty more battles between the two this season. 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden impressively finished fourth onboard his Repsol Honda RC212V after a miraculous save in turn one, whilst Loris Capirossi emerged from the battle between himself, Tech 3 Yamaha rider James Toseland and JiR Team Scot´s Andrea Dovizioso to take fifth. The top ten was completed by San Carlo Gresini Honda´s Shinya Nakano, Rizla Suzuki star Chris Vermeulen and Kawasaki’s John Hopkins with reigning World Champion Casey Stoner outside the top ten for the first time in over a season. The Australian twice ran off track during the race, on the second and twenty-second laps, and now drops down to fourth in the classification. Retirements came from Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet, the former starting from the front row of the grid for the second consecutive race. 250cc Mika Kallio was the winner of a spectacular 250cc race in Jerez, taking perhaps the most unexpected victory he is ever likely to achieve. The Red Bull KTM rider looked to be on course for a third consecutive podium, behind Alvaro Bautista and Marco Simoncelli, until a final lap crash between the duo gifted the Finn a memorable triumph. The battle of the race was precisely between the Spaniard and the Italian, as Mapfre Aspar rider and quarter litre poleman Bautista went wheel to wheel with his unpredictable Metis Gilera rival. Simoncelli was glued to the rear wheel of the home rider´s Aprilia RSA, taking the lead for only the briefest of moments. Realising that a final push was necessary, the winner of the 2004 and 2005 125cc race in Jerez tried to sneak up the inside of Bautista, with the two colliding as the latter´s engine gave out. Kallio´s win was his third in the category, and puts him second in the World Championship. The new leader also came from an unlikely source, as Qatar racewinner Mattia Pasini moved up from tenth on the grid for second place. After his 125cc disaster last year, few could begrudge Pasini´s Spanish newfound fortune, which was augmented as he passed JiR Team Scot rider Yuki Takahashi on the home straight. Hiroshi Aoyama completed a great day for Red Bull KTM with fourth place, ahead of Pepe Team Toth´s Hector Barbera and Lotus Aprilia front row man Alex Debon. Both paid the price for bad starts, and Debon´s day could have worsened if he hadn´t have made the most of his elbow when he looked to be crashing out. Julian Simon, who nearly collided with Simoncelli early in the race, finished seventh, ahead of Metis Gilera´s Roberto Locatelli in a well ridden return to racing in Jerez for the latter. Aleix Espargaro and Lukas Pesek completed the top ten. Swiss rider Thomas Luthi added to the potential podium crash count, highsiding his Emmi-Caffe Latte Aprilia when chasing Kallio with just four laps to go. 125cc Simone Corsi took his second victory in the 125cc class at the Circuito de Jerez, beating Jack&Jones WRB team-mate Nico Terol to the chequered flag and assuming the lead in the lower cylinder class standings. Starting from the second row of the grid, Corsi took advantage of a slow pace in the early going to sandwich himself amongst the frontrunners, and used his aggressive style and the grunt of his Aprilia RS to break away and record his first win since his maiden triumph at last year´s race in Turkey. On a more standard machine, Terol racked up his debut podium in the World Championship and a historic one-two for the Sito Pons-supported team. After starting from pole for the second consecutive race, Polaris World´s Bradley Smith was again unable to record his first win in the class, but finished on the podium for the second time in his career after fending off the always dangerous slipstreaming of Stefan Bradl. Smith paid the price for some daring manoeuvres that didn´t quite pay off at the midway and final parts of the race, dropping him back into the trailing pack and allowing Corsi and Terol to break away. Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing rider Bradl´s fourth place finish puts him into second place in the overall classification, with both he and Corsi displacing previous leader Sergio Gadea after the Spaniard crashed out of his home race. Home rider Pablo Nieto was the final rider in the podium battle, with a 14 second advantage over sixth placed Stevie Bonsey in the DeGraaf Grand Prix Aprilia rider´s best result in 125cc. Scott Redding, Dominique Aegerter, Mike di Meglio and Sandro Cortese completed the top ten. Reigning World Champion Gabor Talmacsi was the first retiree in the Gran Premio bwin.com de España, courtesy of an engine problem with his Bancaja Aspar Aprilia RSA. There were also crashes for Efren Vasquez, Pol Espargaro, Danny Webb and Joan Olive. More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: Event: Spanish Grand Prix – Rossi Date: Sunday 30th March 2008 Ambient temperature: 19 C Track temperature: 23 C Humidity: 26 100TH PREMIER CLASS PODIUM FOR ROSSI IN JEREZ Valentino Rossi reached another milestone in his career today, joining an elite group of riders who have stood on the premier class podium 100 times today after riding his Fiat Yamaha M1 to second place in Jerez. The seven-time world champion formed part of a podium double for the Fiat Yamaha Team as his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finished third, claiming his second consecutive podium in his rookie season. Starting from fifth, Rossi did not get the best of starts and finished the first lap in sixth, but he soon settled into a good rhythm and was stalking Lorenzo, then in second, by lap three. On the next lap he passed his team-mate and set off after Dani Pedrosa, who had led from the start. The Spaniard was too quick today however and Rossi was unable to catch him, lapping comfortably in second until crossing the line at the end of the penultimate lap, when he mistakenly thought the race had finished and slowed down as he crossed the line. He quickly realised his error however and luckily had enough of a cushion from Lorenzo to hang on to second, eventually finishing 2.883 seconds behind Pedrosa. Rossi moves into third place in the championship, whilst Lorenzo holds onto second and the Fiat Yamaha Team leads the team’s championship. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: +2.883 “I’m really happy with this podium because, even though it hasn’t been so many races since the last one, it’s been quite a lot of months! I am also very happy to have reached 100 podiums in MotoGP; now I am wondering if I can get to 200! It’s a pity we couldn’t win today and maybe I was a little bit too cautious at the start because I wanted to take care of my tyres, but in the end they worked very well from start to finish and so this is great for the future. It’s always better to win but after the poor result in Qatar this is a very important second place to us, also because it’s my first podium with Bridgestone. Thanks to my team, to Yamaha and to Bridgestone because we’ve made a lot of progress this weekend, continuing right up to making some small but important adjustments after warm-up this morning. My bike and tyres are working very well, we’re third in the championship with a very long way to go and I’m feeling quite confident.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “We are very satisfied with today’s result, especially because this second place arrives after Qatar, where we learnt a lot. The Team, all the engineers and the technicians made a great job and used the information we got in Qatar in the best way to make a big step forward. Now we want to look at this race in Jerez as the start of our championship. Of course we still have a lot to learn about the Bridgestone/Yamaha combination, but I think both parties did an excellent job here and Valentino rode a great race and kept a very consistent rhythm. Tomorrow we will have one day of testing and we will do our best in order to be in good shape for Estoril. This is Valentino’s 100th podium and also the first one with Bridgestone, so it’s a special day, but we hope that there will be many others! Today I would really like to say “Bravi a tutti!” Masahiko Nakajima Team Director “Today I am very happy because we were able to get back onto the podium with Valentino! This year is not easy because we don’t have experience between the Bridgestone tyres and our M1, but after Qatar we investigated the problem with our set-up in order to make the tyres work better and improve our performance. This weekend we tested many solutions and finally we reached a very good set-up. As I said, I am very happy for Valentino because he can now fight again at his maximum level. In tomorrow’s test we will work again to fine tune the set-up of his M1 with the Bridgestone tyres; we now want Valentino back on the highest step of the podium!” Results 1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 45’35.121 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 2.883 3. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 4.339 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda + 10.142 5. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 27.524 6. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha + 27.808 7. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing + 28.296 8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 28.449 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 32.569 10. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki + 35.091 11. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro + 42.223 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro + 44.498 13. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing + 45.807 14. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 45.871 15. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team + 1’09.558 16. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team + 1’14.442 NOT CLASSIFIED Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 22 Lap Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 25 Lap Championship Standings 1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 41 2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 36 3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 31 4. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 30 5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 21 6. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 20 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 19 8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 19 9. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 13 10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 10 11. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 9 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 9 13. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 7 14. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 6 15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 3 16. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 3 17. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 2 18. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1 Jerez: Lap Record V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2005, 1’40.596 Jerez: Best Lap L. Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 1’39.064 More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: Jerez – Grand Prix of Spain Event: Spanish Grand Prix – Lorenzo Date: Sunday, 30th March 2008 Ambient temperature: 19 C Track temperature: 23 C Humidity: 26 LORENZO HELPS YAMAHA TO DOUBLE PODIUM IN JEREZ Fiat Yamaha Team new-recruit Jorge Lorenzo proved his Qatar podium was no fluke by taking third in his home Grand Prix at Jerez today. The youngster joined his team-mate Valentino Rossi, who finished second, on the podium and marked a great day for the team in front of over 130,000 Spanish fans and King Juan Carlos of Spain. Lorenzo started from pole for the second race running but was unable to keep pace with his Dani Pedrosa, who led over the line for the first time. Meanwhile Rossi had moved to within striking distance of his team-mate by the third lap, making his move on the next lap and passing the Mallorcan to take second. Lorenzo rode strongly in third for the remainder of the race but was unable to get close enough to Rossi to mount a challenge, crossing the line 1.456 seconds adrift of the Italian. Rossi likewise was unable to make much of a dent in Pedrosa’s lead and finished 2.883 seconds off the winner. With two podiums under his belt Lorenzo holds onto second in the championship whilst Rossi moves into third and the Fiat Yamaha Team top the team table. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 3rd Time: +4.339 “Of course I’m a little bit disappointed today because we thought that we might be able to make more of a challenge, but I can’t complain because it’s only my second race and I’ve had two podiums and two pole positions, so it’s still a great result! To race today in front of so many Spanish fans and also The King was something incredible and I have really enjoyed myself a lot here. Dani was a fair winner today, his pace was very strong and I couldn’t stay with him, but I am learning all the time and I will be stronger again at the next race. It’s a very long championship and this is an important result for us. Thanks to my team and to Yamaha and Michelin, everyone worked very hard and I think we’ve done a very good job so far. To be second in the championship at this point is still far more than I expected and now I am just looking forward to the next race.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Today’s result is a great one! This was just the second race of Jorge’s MotoGP career and he got his second consecutive podium! He rode the race of an “old” MotoGP rider today, in a very clever way. He concentrated on taking home the best result he could, without making any mistakes or wasting the great pole position he started from. The Team did an excellent job and, together with Michelin, we were able to find a good package for this track. Now of course motivation is running high and we will use today’s result and data in order to improve things further and to go to Estoril in the best shape possible.” Masahjiko Nakajima Team Director “Jorge’s performance today was quite impressive, bearing in mind that this is just his second race in MotoGP! During the race it seems that he lost a little bit of the feeling with the bike that he had yesterday and on Friday, but anyway it is clear that he is ready to win a race, already! One of the team’s tasks is to maintain a good atmosphere around Jorge and to make him feel relaxed and concentrated, and so far it seems that this is the case. As far as tomorrow’s test is concerned, we will keep on working on the electronic setting and on testing more tyres with Michelin, as we look to continue to improve our package ahead of the next race.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Rossi scores second in Jerez to take first Bridgestone podium Round 2: Spain Race Circuito de Jerez, Sunday 30 March 2008 Valentino Rossi finished this afternoon’s Spanish Grand Prix in second place after a competitive 27-lap race which was the fastest ever GP to be held in Jerez. Dani Pedrosa took victory honours with a race time of 45 minutes 35 seconds, some 18 seconds quicker than last year’s race-winning pace and eight seconds faster than 2005’s record race time. Rossi was the first Yamaha rider past the chequered flag and the best placed rider on Bridgestone tyres this afternoon. His second place result also marks his and Yamaha’s first ever podium result on Bridgestone tyres in only the second grand prix of partnership. Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi fended off several riders in the closing stages of the race for a fine fifth position, while John Hopkins took nine championship points for seventh spot in his second race for Kawasaki. Additional strong performances from Honda Gresini’s Shinya Nakano and Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen ensured a total of five Bridgestone-shod riders took top ten results after a challenging weekend in Jerez. Ducati’s Casey Stoner made a good start to jump from seventh to third after the first lap, but the Australian was relegated to the back of the field after an off-track excursion on lap four. He nevertheless found good pace from his Bridgestone-shod Ducati to brilliantly recover some positions and join the chase for fifth position, but was ultimately forced to settle for eleventh place. Hirohide Hamashima Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Race Tyre Development “I would like to congratulate Valentino and Yamaha for their second place result today in only our second race of working together. Honestly speaking, the race results are better than we expected based on the tyre performance over the weekend and several of our teams were able to challenge for good points-scoring positions. We are staying on to test here tomorrow and we will analyse our strengths and weaknesses in order to speed up our technical development for both race and qualifying tyres. The level of competition in MotoGP is very high this season, so we must speed up our rate of tyre development accordingly.” Hiroshi Yamada- Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit “That was a very quick race and the guys at the front were running a strong pace. It is great that Yamaha and Valentino have taken their first podium using our tyres and to show the potential of the Yamaha-Bridgestone package. It was even more pleasing that Valentino was the first of the four Yamaha riders to finish the race, so congratulations to them. Several of our teams were able to enjoy a spirited race with some experienced Bridgestone riders getting good results with Loris in fifth, John in seventh, Shinya in ninth and Chris in tenth. For Ducati, it was a difficult weekend but Casey showed a real champion spirit trying to recover positions and he showed he had the pace for a good result. I am thankful to all our teams for their efforts over this difficult weekend and it is pleasing to see all six teams score points this weekend. It has also been fantastic to see one of our riders on the Jerez podium for the first time since 2006!” Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 2nd Position (+2.883s from race winner) “This second place is a very important result for us. We have worked well on the bike and with Bridgestone this weekend. After the warm-up this morning we made some final modifications which gave me more feeling and the result is the first podium for us with Bridgestone tyres so it has definitely been important. For me it was a good race, but Dani was simply too fast. Anyway second place is still good for us and to race in front of this fantastic Jerez crowd is a great emotion. After the fifth place in Qatar we wanted to get on the podium here but I think this championship will be very long with a lot of riders capable of trying to win.” Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Race Results and Tyre Choices Pos. Rider Team Race Time Gap Front Tyre (all 16.5”) Rear Tyre (all 16.5”) P2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 45m38.004s +2.883s Slick-Medium Slick-Medium P5 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 46m02.645s +27.524s Slick-Medium Slick-Medium P7 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 46m03.417s +28.296s Slick-Medium Slick-Soft P9 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 46m07.690s +32.569s Slick-Soft Slick-Medium P10 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 46m10.212s +35.091s Slick-Medium Slick-Soft P11 Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 46m17.344s +42.223s Slick-Medium Slick-Medium P12 Marco Melandri Ducati Corse 46m19.619s +44.284s Slick-Medium Slick-Medium P13 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 46m20.230s +45.807s Slick-Medium Slick-Soft P14 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 46m20.992s +45.871s Slick-Medium Slick-Medium P15 Toni Elias Alice Team 46m44.679s +1m09.558s Slick-Medium Slick-Medium P16 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 46m49.563s +1m14.442s Slick-Medium Slick-Medium Weather: Dry Air 19°C, Track 23°C, Humidity 26% More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Sunday Mar 30 2008 Jerez GP – Race TOUGH BUT DETERMINED RACE FOR STONER AND MELANDRI It certainly wasn’t an easy Grand Prix of Spain for the two Ducati Marlboro Team riders at the tricky Jerez circuit but a show of character and determination. For Casey Stoner, who was never completely comfortable with the set-up of his GP8 all weekend, his desire to give 100% combined with a touch of bad luck saw him run into the gravel twice. After a superb start lifted him to third place on the opening lap, the World Champion’s first off-track excursion came on the third lap and saw him relegated to last place. By the 22nd lap an exciting fight-back had lifted him back into the fight for fifth but contact with Nakano at the end of the back straight led to another trip across the gravel. Stoner again returned to the track in eleventh and without enough remaining laps to repeat his comeback. Like in Qatar, Marco Melandri saved his best for the race and set a much better pace in the second half of the encounter to rise from the very back of the grid to a twelfth place finish. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 11th “Today wasn’t my day – I suppose it wasn’t my weekend! We never found the set-up here that would let us make the most of our potential. Normally braking is one of the strong points of our bike but here I just didn’t have the feeling with the front. I wasn’t quite on the limit when I ran off track the first time but I couldn’t get the bike stopped so it took me by surprise because we weren’t doing anything differently. After that I had to really push to get back into the race and I was pretty happy once I caught the group. Just when I was passing Nakano he let go of the brakes and touched my wheel, so I had nowhere to go but the gravel. I think I could have finished fifth, which I would have been happy with, but instead it was a bit of a disaster. The tyres weren’t perfect but they weren’t bad either so I can’t blame it on that. I’m not happy but it’s not the end of the world – there are plenty of other tracks and other races, starting with Portugal, where we went well last year and finished on the podium, even if we had some little problems, and where this year we will try to fight for victory.” MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 12th “Today, like in Qatar, we improved in the second half of the race when the bike improved under braking and on the way into the corners so I could ride much better. Unfortunately I didn’t have the grip on the rear and that made me lose a lot under acceleration as soon as I went on the gas. This is my main problem and it is this which we must improve. We knew, however, that this weekend would be difficult because this track is something of an Achilles heel for Ducati, with the 800 at least, because with the 990 they won. In any case we must work and we must continue to improve especially the rear grip”. LIVIO SUPPO (Ducati MotoGP Project Leader) “It’s been an unfortunate day for Casey, his first running of track affected his whole race. After that he set a great pace and produced a brilliant comeback. Unfortunately he then touched with Nakano and that cost him fifth place – a result that would have been satisfactory at a circuit that really doesn’t suit our package. It’s a shame but it’s only the second race and he can be up there. Today he showed that he’s a fighter and that he never gives up. Marco, like in Qatar, was able to lap at the sort of pace we expect from him in the second part of the race so we need to understand why he’s struggling so much in the first half. Tomorrow we have a day of tests and we’ll work hard to help him and to work out why we’ve struggled so much here.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: MotoGP World Championship. Spanish GP. Races DANI PEDROSA WINS THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX WITH AUTHORITY The Repsol Honda Team rider, new leader of the top category. The podium only just escaped Nicky Hayden, who finished fourth The Spanish Grand Prix promised to be spectacular, and the over 131,000 fans present at the Jerez Circuit were not disappointed. After a practically non-existent pre-season, an injury in his right hand and a rough start to the championship, Dani Pedrosa today exhibited his full talent in a crushing performance on the Jerez Circuit. The Repsol rider took the first position right from the start, and no one was capable of keeping up with his pace. A consecutive series of fast laps throughout the beginning of the race slowly increased his advantage over his pursuers, enjoying up to a 4 seconds’ lead at mid-race over the second rider, Italian Valentino Rossi. Well informed by the Repsol Honda Team members from behind the wall on the finish-line straight, Pedrosa kept up a fast pace, lap after lap, his advantage over his pursuers always under control, until he completed the 27 laps of the race. With this victory and the third position at the Qatar Grand Prix, Dani Pedrosa now leads the top category in the best possible scenario a Spanish rider could ever hope for, the Spanish Grand Prix. American Repsol Honda Team rider Nicky Hayden also ran a good race, and though he just missed the podium riding behind Rossi and Lorenzo, an incident where he almost hit the ground forced him to finally lose touch with the Yamaha riders and finished fourth. With this result, Hayden is now seventh in the general classification. In a rough race in the 250cc category, Julián Simón was finally seventh after a race riddled with problems. The Repsol rider got off to a good start where he overtook two rivals and placed himself in third position by the first curve. But when braking at the curve before the finish line, Simonelli swerved in on his inside, brushing him and knocking him off his line, losing precious metres. However, that was the least of his problems, because when the race was not yet halfway through he began to feel discomfort in his right forearm which had already conditioned his performance during the first race. The victory went to Finnish rider Mika Kallio, who receives support from Repsol, after finding himself in first position when Bautisa and Simonelli fell when the engine of the Spanish rider’s Aprilia seized up. The Finnish rider’s teammate, Hiroshi Aoyama, was fourth. In the first race of the day, which finished with Simone Corsi, Nico Terol and Bradley Smith occupying the three steps on the podium, Esteve Rabat was finally twelfth. The Repsol rider got off to a good start from sixteenth position, with hopes high after the improvements shown during the morning warm-ups, where he was third. However, in spite of overtaking up to eight rivals during the race, he soon started to lose ground with respect to the leading group, due to problems with grip in the rear tyre of his KTM 125 FRR. In the end, Rabat stayed in a group formed by Koyama, De Rosa and Cortese, struggling for tenth position. In this way, he added the first four points of the season and has his sights set on the next Grand Prix in Portugal, where teammate Marc Márquez is expected to be back in action, fully recovered from his injury. MotoGP Dani Pedrosa 1st 45’35.121 seconds “This is my first MotoGP win at Jerez and I’m very happy about today’s performance because it comes after a difficult winter during which we couldn’t test so much after I crashed and broke my right hand in January. To score good results in two complicated races and lead the championship is very important. I got a good start, not spectacular like in Qatar, but effective, so I was able to take the lead. I did my best, I focused on not making mistakes and I was able to manage the race all the way to the finish and get a win in front of the Spanish fans. The crowd gave me incredible support, I hope they enjoyed the race, and it was an honour to get my trophy from the King. Today we are happy but we know that we have to keep working because Yamaha and Ducati are very competitive. We stay here for two days testing that will be crucial in helping us continue development of the RC212V in preparation for the next races.” Nicky Hayden 4th at 10.142 seconds “It was fun to be competitive, to come into that stadium section the first lap with 130,000 people coming alive, bombs going off, it was cool, it was nice to be there in the mix. Obviously we’d like to have been having some bubbly afterwards, but the bike worked the best it’s worked all weekend and I was pushing hard. After I dropped back a bit I made a run on them, I was trying to give those guys a fight. Then I stayed on the brake a bit too long into turn one and pretty much crashed. It was elbow down and I thought it was done, but the front tyre was good, so I picked it up on the knee and saved it. You can ride these bikes so hard now and the front tyres are so good, that’s the first time I’ve done that. All in all it’s been a good day for Repsol Honda, so thanks to my team and for the support from all the guys. We came in here a lot more competitive, hopefully we can keep rolling from here and keep moving up.” 250cc Julián Simón 7th at 16.372 seconds “We got off to a good start and I was soon among the first four. I kept up my pace well, as I had some very good sensations at the start of the race. Bautista and Simonelli overtook me in the curve leading to the finish line, Simonelli brushed me and I had to open out. I lost some ground there, and some more when Aoyama and Debón also touched me. But when there were still sixteen laps left to go I had the same problem that has been dogging me for a long time. My right forearm, the hand on the accelerator, got cramped again and I couldn’t feel anything. I spent the whole race with a lot of pain in my arm. It was a shame because the circumstances today allowed for a podium. I’m a bit unhappy about that, but we did a good job this weekend and I would like to thank the mechanics for their effort.” 125cc Esteve Rabat 12th at 33.987 seconds “I’m a bit upset because this morning in the warm-up it looked like the bike was running well, but afterwards it was not the case. I got off to a good start and tried to chase the leading group, but I don’t know what happened during the third lap that my rear tyre started to skid a lot. That made me lose many positions, because if not, I could see that I was going to fall. I preferred to just finish the race and add a few points instead of falling off the bike, because I was always pushing it to the limit and I was still running a slow pace. I would like to thank Repsol and the team for all their support, because I’m going through a bad patch and they are trying to help me get through it as soon as possible. Now it’s time to work towards the next race, keep our spirits high, and to keep trying.” Official results MotoGP 1. Dani PEDROSA (REPSOL HONDA) 45:35:121 2. Valentino ROSSI (YAMAHA) 45:38:004 3. Jorge LORENZO (YAMAHA) 45:39:460 4. Nicky HAYDEN (REPSOL HONDA) 45:45:263 5. Loris CAPIROSSI (SUZUKI) 46:02:645 250cc 1. Mika KALLIO (KTM) 45:27:908 2. Mattia PASINI (APRILIA) 45:32:185 3. Yuki TAKAHASHI (HONDA) 45:32:195 4. Hiroshi AOYAMA (KTM) 45:32:784 5. Héctor BARBERÁ (APRILIA) 45:33:876 7. Julián SIMÓN (REPSOL KTM) 45:44:280 125cc 1. Simone CORSI (APRILIA) 41:46:100 2. Nicolás TEROL (APRILIA) 41:49:306 3. Bradley SMITH (APRILIA) 41:51:086 4. Stefan BRADL (APRILIA) 41:51:122 5. Pablo NIETO (KTM) 41:52:354 More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: Circuit: Jerez Date: 30/03/2008 SUN SHINES ON KAWASAKI AT JEREZ The Spanish Grand Prix was held today at the Andalucian circuit of Jerez and both Kawasaki Racing Team riders, John Hopkins and Anthony West, showed off their skill and determination by managing seventh and 13th positions respectively. After a solid start from the third row of the grid, Hopkins was right in the thick of the action near the front of the field. Soon however, eventual race-winner, Dani Pedrosa, took off with a small selection of riders, leaving the #21 racer in an impressive group which stayed virtually intact until the end of the 27 lap event. Showing no sign of pain from his groin injury and steering his Ninja ZX-RR expertly around the complex, 4.423km circuit, Hopkins battled to the last, seeing off Shinya Nakano and former Suzuki team mate, Chris Vermeulen, in the process. In a nail-biting finale, there was a last corner scrap for places with Loris Capirossi, James Toseland, and Andrea Dovizioso, and a delighted Kawasaki squad looked on as Hopkins got seventh spot, bringing his points total after two races to 13 and putting him ninth in the championship. Further down the field, Anthony West was engaged in a race-long battle with Marco Melandri and Alex de Angelis. The 27-year-old Australian had also managed a good start, soon finding himself in 13th place after rising two positions during the first lap. By the end of lap three, he had progressed to 11th but lost that to 2007 world champion, Casey Stoner, who was having to catch up with the field after a an earlier error had forced him off the track. West was then overtaken by Marco Melandri and the two diced for the rest of the race with West finally missing out on 12th but, like his team mate, he fought until the end, holding off a last gasp attempt to overtake him by de Angelis. The Kawasaki Racing Team will now undertake further testing at Jerez before the championship continues on 13th April at Estoril, Portugal. John Hopkins #21 7th “We took a gamble on the race tyre we used today as we’ve only completed two timed laps on it previously and, thankfully, we made a good decision. I got a good start to the race but went backwards a few places on lap one. I was pushing hard to make a pass on lap four when I made a mistake and lost a few positions, so I gritted my teeth and pushed hard to stay with the group in front. I was riding consistently throughout the race but, by the time the last lap arrived, I was sliding quite a lot on the rear tyre. I was right with Toseland and Dovizioso when they had a coming together in the final part of the race, which left the door open for me to make up another position. Although I’m pleased with the result, we still have a lot of work to do. My injury is feeling much better and now we have some test time so can continue the process of getting the Kawasaki to the top of the field.” Anthony West #13 13th “I gave it my all today and to be honest it was hard work. The result is a big improvement since the last round, although we’re still struggling with a lack of rear traction. I got a good start to the race and I was trying to be as smooth as possible but, once the tyre went off, this became quite difficult. During my battle with Melandri, I felt much faster than him and I easily re-passed him on a few occasions. He managed to pass me in the last few laps and, despite pushing really hard, I just didn’t have enough grip to get by him again. The front end of the bike felt good, entry and mid corner I was a lot faster than everyone else, but we’re losing a lot of time in the exit of some corners so that is the area we need to focus on. Hopefully, with the test time we have, we can make another step forward before reaching Estoril.” Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “I am happy with the result today: both riders rode very hard and we have achieved much better positions than last time out. John is still not completely comfortable on the bike with his injury but both he and Anthony were fighting right until the end of the race. Jerez is not one of our favourite circuits, as we’ve struggled here in the past, but we have to work hard to try and improve even further before the next round. We now have some test time in the next two days where John will try some front tyre options and he will also be given the opportunity to ride the ‘screamer’ machine. Anthony and our test rider, Olivier Jacque, have similar riding styles so they will work together to try and find a better base setting to race with.”